List of the 40 Most Liberal Country Songs.

[Maddy McCall]

This list was put together by a guy at www.rateitall.com. They are in order, based on two criteria: 1) whether or not they are truly country, and 2) just how liberal they are. Ratings are from 5 stars (most liberal) to 1 star (liberal, but least liberal in the list).

From the guy who assembled the list:

First, I wanted to avoid anything considered "alternative country" for the sake of argument. Miller didn't go to Christian Rock for his choices. Secondly, I wanted to avoid going too often to the well of artists like Dixie Chicks, Stever Earle, or the "Outlaws" such as Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, etc. I lean on them for a few songs, particularly those that did get a great deal of play on country music stations. But Miller didn't lean too heavily on artists like Ted Nugent. Third, I wanted to stick to as "pure" country as possible. No Woody Guthrie, or other classical folk music. No country rock like CCR.

Since I am clueless the difference is between "insider" and "outsider" country, I depended on others to define it for me. I ended up leaving out certain borderline artists to protect the argument, examples being kd Lang, John Melencamp, and Iris Dement.

I'm certain that some of my choices will be questioned in terms of both their place in country, as well as "liberal." Since Miller included everything pertaining to marriage or religion as "conservative," I feel comfortable with my choice to include as "liberal" any song that deals with the difficulties of underpaid working class life (it is very apparent that country addresses what the left views as "class issues" much more frequently than rock), even if the song isn't overtly political. I'll probably catch the most grief for including Merle Haggard's "Oakie from Muskogee," written as a joke with pretty much everyone across the political continuum missing the irony.

Lastly, while searching for liberal country songs I came across a book about the political divide in country music entitled Rednecks and Bluenecks. Looks interesting.

Without further ado, the list. I have a few back-up songs in the wings in case somebody convinces me any of these songs don't belong. I expect that country buffs will have plenty of additions that make better choices as well. I'll be happy to post them in follow-up.


FIVE STARS - Most liberal:

Don't you think this outlaw bit's done got out of hand?- Waylon Jennings

Ellis Unit One - Steve Earle

Heartland - Willie Nelson

Man in Black - Johnny Cash

Peace on Earth - Willie Nelson

Trouble in the Fields - Nancy Griffith

We shall be free - Garth Brooks

White House Blues - Vassar Clements

FOUR STARS:

The Pill - Loretta Lynn

It Don't Worry Me - Keith Carradine (I gasped when I saw that!)

What Is Truth? - Johnny Cash

Travelin' Soldier - Dixie Chicks

He Thinks He'll Keep Her - Mary Chapin Carpenter

Me an' Bobbie McGee-Janis Joplin

Blame it on the Stones - Kris Kristofferson

Church - Lyle Lovett

Conversations with the Devil - Ray Wylie Hubbard

Copperhead Road - Steve Earle

Devil's Right Hand - Steve Earle

Fishing - Richard Shindell

Hobo's Meditation - Dolly Parton

Mercy Now - Mary Gauthier

They Ain't Makin Jews like Jesus Anymore - Kinky Friedman

Uneasy Rider - Charlie Daniels

You'll never leave Harlan Alive - Patty Loveless

THREE STARS:

Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Earnest Ford

9 to 5 - Dolly Parton

Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie Riley

Take this Job and Shove It - Johnny Paycheck

One Tin soldier - Buffy St. Marie

Coal Miner's Daughter - Loretta Lynn

Saginaw, Michigan - Lefty Frizzell

200 years - Henry Gibson, songwriter

TWO STARS and below:

Passionate Kisses - Mary Chapin Carpenter

Two Story House - Tammy Wynette

Okie from Muskogee - Merle Haggard

Lights went out in Georgia - Reba McEntire

San Quentin - Johnny Cash

The One On The Right - Johnny Cash

Mississipi on my Mind - Jesse Winchester written, Jerry Jeff Walker performance



The rest of the list is here:

http://www.rateitall.com/t-22111-liberal-country-songs.aspx?age=&zipcode=&gender=&sort=0&pagenum=3

Some discussion of this list here:

http://redwoodreality.blogspot.com/2006/06/50-liberal-country-songs.html



DU Discussions on the conservative/liberal rock music topic:

50 Most Conservative Rock Songs:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1562040&mesg_id=1562040

50 Most Liberal/Progressive Rock Songs:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1562283&mesg_id=1562283



OK, DUers, do you agree or disagree with these picks? And please add your own!

[FARAFIELD]

1. galveston by glenn campbell

how the hell could that not be near or at the top, far ahead of its time

[Maddy McCall]

2. I'm going to add Tim McGraw's "Red Rag Top"

I'm adding Red Rag Top to the list because of the furor about abortion it stirred among conservative country fans, to the point that the song was banned on many country music stations:

I was twenty and she was eighteen,
We were just as wild as we were green, in the ways of the world
She picked me up in that red rag top,
We were free of the folks and hiding from the cops,
On a summer night runnin all the red lights
We parked way out in a clearinin a grove and the night
Was hot as a coal burnin stove,
We were cookin the gas we were had to last

In the back of that red rag top
She said please dont stop

Well the very first time her mother met me,
Her green eyed girl was a mother to be for 2 weeks
I was out of a job and she was in school,
Life was fast and the world was cruel
We were young and wild, we decided not to have a child
So we did what we did and we tried to forget
And we swore up and down there would be no regrets
In the morning light,
But on the way home that night

On the back of that red rag top
She said please dont stop..
Lovin me

We took one more trip around the sun,
It was all make believe in the end,
No I cant say where she is today,
I cant remember who I was, back then
Well you do what you do and you pay for your sins,
And theres no such thing as what mightve
Been, thats a waste of time; drive you outta your mind
I was stopped at a red light just yesterday beside a young girl
In a cabriolet and her eyes
Were green
I was in an old scene

I was back in that red rag top
On the day she stopped
Loving me
I was back in that red rag top
On the day she stopped
Loving me

[TwilightGardener]

14. Agree--good choice.

[helderheid]

20. "We Can't Make It Here" James McMurtry

"We Can't Make it Here"
Lyrics

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their sh@# don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the da$% little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

Music and lyrics © 2004 by James McMurtry



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTW0y6kazWM

[B Calm]

22. Can't Make It Here Anymore is the best country song I have ever

heard.

[helderheid]

25. absolutely!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. bookmarked!

you always find such great stuff.

we've missed you.

[Maddy McCall]

5. Thanks!

:hug:

[Gregorian]

4. I always liked "I'm just a redneck in a rock n roll bar". Jerry Reed.

Man, I may be liberal, but I crank the volume all the way to Brian Blessed when I hear this tune.




Well hello, Boogie Palace
I'm sittin' here alone
Listening to the music
Of electric saxophones

Now, there ain't no sexy dresses
And there ain't no beehive hair
Just boys who look like girls
Who look like boys, who look like Cher

I'm just a redneck
In a Rock 'n' Roll bar
I miss the fiddle
And a steel guitar
They're starin' at me
Like a bug in a jar
I'm just a redneck
In a Rock 'n' Roll bar

I stopped in here to have a beer
To ask some gal to dance
But, I been waitin' patient now
And I ain't had the chance

'Cause they ain't played any walzes
Nothing like a Texas swing
And with no belly rubbin' music
How in the hell can I do my thing?

I'm just a redneck
In a Rock 'n' Roll bar
I miss the fiddle
And a steel guitar
They're starin' at me
Like a bug in a jar
I'm just a redneck
In a Rock 'n' Roll bar

Well goodbye, Boogie Palace
I'm a gettin' outta here
Back to Country music
And back to Lone Star beer

Where the women look like women
And they dress so you can tell
And the men are good ol' boys
Just drinkin' beer and raisin' hell

I'm just a redneck
In a Rock 'n' Roll bar
I miss the fiddle
And a steel guitar
They're starin' at me
Like a bug in a jar
I'm just a redneck
In a Rock 'n' Roll bar



I'm just a redneck
In a Rock 'n' Roll bar
I miss the fiddle
And a steel guitar
They're starin' at me
Like a bug in a jar
I'm just a redneck
In a Rock 'n' Roll bar



I guess that makes me a closet redneck. Well, we now return you to Black Flag...

[DefenseLawyer]

6. Not exactly country

but I'll add "The Great Compromise" by John Prine.

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. "I'm Taking My Country Back" and "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore"

are 2 of my favorites.:) Have a listen! They're wonderful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbO5JYV1dJc&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kTctirEPns

[mvd]

8. Steve Earle certainly has more 5 stars

"The Revolution Starts Now," "Amerika v. 6.0," "F the CC," "The Devil's Right Hand," "Rich Man's War," "John Walker's Blues" included - and add some lesser star ones like "The Boy Who Never Cried."

[Maddy McCall]

9. You could probably do a top 40 list with just Steve Earle!

:hi:

[mvd]

10. Yes indeed

:hi:

[losthills]

11. The list needs more Haggard...

like Branded Man,
Irma Jackson,
and Workin' Man Blues, at least.

And maybe Big City and Sing Me Back Home...

[leftofthedial]

12. "Uneasy Rider - Charlie Daniels"

any list with a song by that fascist fuckstain is suspect at best

[tkmorris]

16. LOL

"fascist fuckstain", well said, well said.

[TwilightGardener]

13. "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" (Patty Loveless) and "Travelin' Soldier" (D. Chicks)--

two of my favorite sad country songs. Glad to see them on here.

[WCGreen]

15. Right after we invaded Iraq, Nanci Griffth appeared on the

Grand Old Opry stage for the first time...

It's live...

Well, she sang an anti-war song...

Now that is someone who is putting their money where their mouth is...

Trouble in the Fields made me tear up when I heard her sing it in concert...

[sandnsea]

17. coat of many colors

If that isn't on the list, then the list maker doesn't know what he's doing. And Oscar Was An Angel, Old Dogs and Children, lots of better choices, imho.

[last_texas_dem]

18. "What If Jesus Comes Back Like That?" by Collin Raye

One of my favorite country songs that definitely has a liberal message; apparently enough of one that some stations refused to play it due to complaints. It still brushed the bottom of the country top ten back in '96 or so. It does have a Christian message, but by no means a fundamentalist Xian message...

"What If Jesus Comes Back Like That"

He came to town on an old freight train,
He jumped off in the pourin' rain.
Everybody said "He's insane",
"Just a low down no account hobo."

He made his bed 'neath the county bridge.
The city folk said "Hey that's not his!"
They signed a petition,
They're gonna get rid,
Of that low down no account white trash.

What if Jesus comes back like that,
On an old freight train,
In a hobo hat?
Will we, let him in or turn our back?
What if Jesus comes back like that?
OOOHHHH
What if Jesus comes back like that?

She was born into drug abuse,
She couldn't help what her momma used.
It wasn't like she got to choose,
Now she's layin' there all alone.

Gotta monkey on her back,
The nurse's say they never saw a smile like that.
Dr. says she might stand a chance,
If somebody takes her home.

What if Jesus comes back like that?
Two months early,
Hooked on crack.
Will we, let him in or turn our back?
What if Jesus comes back like that?
OOOHHHH
What if Jesus comes back like that?

Nobody said life is fair.
We've all got a cross to bear.
When it gets a little hard to care,
Just think about him hangin' there.

He came to town on a cold dark night.
A single star his only light.
A baby born that silent night.
A manger for his bed.

What if Jesus comes back like that,
Where will he find our hearts are at?
Will he, let us in or turn his back?
What if Jesus comes back like that?
Will he cry when he see's where our hearts are at?
Will he, let us in or turn his back?
What if Jesus comes back like that?
Hey! What if Jesus comes back like that?

[Laughing Mirror]

19. I don't see "Sixteen Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford, on that list

Or "Walk on, Boy" by Jimmy Dean. Those are country classics.

[helderheid]

21. replied to the wrong post: - this is the most powerful song of our time (and country)

"We Can't Make it Here"
Lyrics

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their sh@# don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the da$% little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

Music and lyrics © 2004 by James McMurtry



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTW0y6kazWM

[quickesst]

23. One that...

stirs emotion in me that I am usually immune to is Joe "Prop Me Up By the JukeBox When I Die" Diffee's offering. Thanks.
quickesst

JOE DIFFIE
Ships That Don't Come In
(Dave Gibson/Paul Nelson)

I could tell he'd had a tough life
By the way he sat and stared
And me, I'd come to push and shove
So I pulled up a chair.

We talked of roads untraveled
We talked of love untrue
Of strings that come unraveled
We were kings and kindred fools
And just when I'd hit bottom
That old man raised his glass
And said at least we had our chances
There's those who never have.

So here's to all the soldiers
Who have ever died in vain
The insane locked up in themselves
The homeless down on Main
To those who stand on empty shores
And spit against the wind
And those who wait forever
For ships that don't come in.

He said it's only life's illusions
That bring us to this bar
To pick up these old crutches
And compare each other's scars
'Cuz the things we're calling heartache
Hell, they're hardly worth our time
We bitch about a dollar
When there's those without a dime.

And as he ordered one last round
He said I guess we can't complain
God made life a gamble
And we're still in the game.

So here's to all the soldiers
Who have ever died in vain
The insane locked up in themselves
The homeless down on Main
To those who stand on empty shores
And spit against the wind
And those who wait forever
For ships that don't come in.

[TwilightGardener]

24. I remember this song! Good one.